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A family say they feel “lucky” after a bus crashed into their front room - as despite hospitalising five people “it could have been so much worse”

The number 99 service embedded itself into the terraced house, on Merle Terrace in Pallion, Sunderland, just after 5pm on Tuesday after apparently swerving to avoid a car.

Police are now appealing for the a driver of a Renaul Clio and its passenger after they fled before emrgency crews arrived.

Builder George Greig dived for cover as his garden wall and bay window were demolished - but had the smash happened just minutes earlier his daughter and granddaughter would have been sat in the path of the devastation.

“I was sat in the front room, watching the TV when I heard a huge bang, followed by a second bang and I dived down from my chair as glass was flying everywhere,” said George, 61.

“My daughter Stacey and granddaughter Mollie, seven, had been sat in the chair in the window only 10 minutes before but had just gone down to Pallion shopping.

“Thankfully my dog Eddie was also out as he usually sits by the chair in the window too.

“On the bus about four or five people were hurt and taken away by ambulance, and the poor bus driver was in such shock that he couldn’t move for about half an hour.”

Two people were initially trapped on the Go North East bus, which was bound for Silksworth, with eyewitnesses reporting one man had to be stretchered off by paramedics.

Multiple police cars, two fire engines and three ambulances all raced to the scene as crowds gathered to survey the carnage.

“The house has suffered major structural damage and is propped up with Acrow props inside,” said George’s wife Anne, who was at work at the time of the crash. “We don’t know the full extent of the damage yet and we’ll have to see what happens.

“It could have been so much worse and we’ve got to be grateful that my daughter and granddaughter were not sat in that window.”

A spokesperson for bus company Go North East said: “At about 5.05pm this evening, a bus of ours which was the service 99 heading towards Silksworth was in a collision with a car and then it subsequently struck a house.

“There were a number of people on board the 25 seat single-decker bus who together with the driver received treatment from paramedics.”

Home owner George Greig, outside his house where the bus crashed, in Pallion, Sunderland.

Five people were reported to have been taken to hospital having suffered minor injuries.

“We had two appliances there and a special heavy rescue vehicle. Two people were trapped and we released them.”

Northumbria Police closed roads around the crash back to Moor Terrace and the roundabout at St Lukes Terrace to Pallion Retail Park.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “At 5.09pm on Tuesday police received a report a bus had crashed into a house on Merle Terrace, in Sunderland.

“The house was damaged as a result of the collision.

“One person was inside the house at the time, he was not injured in the incident and there were no reports of anyone on the bus being seriously injured. A small number of passengers were treated for minor injuries by paramedics at the scene as a precaution.

“It’s believed another vehicle, a Renault Clio, may have also been involved, however the occupants of the vehicle left before police arrived. Enquiries are being carried out to trace the driver and a passenger and officers are keen for them to get in contact to confirm they are ok and do not require medical treatment.

Any witnesses to the collision are asked to contact Northumbria Police on 101 ext 69191 quoting reference 831 120515.”